2026-06-15 – News – www.theguardian.com
I assembled a women’s team of seven players. The minute the game began, it was obvious we had no ball-handling skills or strategy
I’d spent a season on the sidelines at my daughter’s floorball matches, watching 10-year-old girls brandishing sticks to smack the ball past the goalies and into the nets. Floorball is like hockey but played on an indoor court enclosed by knee-high boards that keep the ball ricocheting around as if in a giant pinball machine. My daughter’s games were fast-paced; every few minutes players dashed off the court, their ponytails swishing, and were replaced with substitutes. The ends of their sticks had brightly coloured plastic blades that could send the ball flying with astonishing speed.
After my daughter’s games, I handed out high-fives and orange slices, suppressing my envy. The girls looked like they were having fun.
